Hip-Hop’s reach extended from the few remote areas long ago. The fact that you will be able to find dope artist in the Hip-Hop arena every is common place now. Cincinnati as described by rapper F.A.M.E is a diamond in the rough type of landscape full of talent.
It make sense, this midwest has historically been a geographic spot to find great musicians and great music. Straight out of Cincinnati come F.A.M.E and Phonz with their release “That Pressure”. We we’re able to catch up with the duo and talk about everything from their original style to the importance of sound quality and live performing. For some sound talk we were also joined by their engineer PJ who has history in Cincinnati working with legends like Hi-Tek.
F.A.M.E & Phonz’s project “That Pressure” is available on all streaming platforms now.
A2HH: How did F.A.M.E & Phonz come together as a group?
Phonz: It started with me and F.A.M.E, he moved back from Georgia to Cincinnati and we linked up in High School. We had similar interest with basketball and music. That was our life. Around that time in High School is when we came up with the formula we wanted to go by as artist, as a group, and as a brand. Having a big brand as a collective. We’ve always had a slew of artist with us, F.A.M.E and I are spearheading the movement along with Jaybe Lamahj.
A2HH: Why did y’all name the album “That Pressure”?
P: It was like a double, triple entendre . Of course is goes with the whole weed and cannabis culture thing, like smokin that pressure. Or when you hear somethin good you like “damn, that’s that pressure”. On the other side it’s like life is pressure and the whole process of creating a diamond takes pressure. Steel sharpen steel, that’s pressure. It’s a theme that we can flip some many different ways artistically and it will mean so much to so many different people.
A2HH: What was your recording process like for this album?
P: Most of the songs on the album were based off of linkin up to freestyle over some beats after booking a studio session. It was fun, we would go out and do something fun but make sure we ended up at the studio at the end of the day. It was just me and F.A.M.E hookin up loungin in the studio and freestylin in the booth, coming up with hooks. We hooked up with our engineer PJ and he made sure that shit sounded real good.
After life’s pressures, tragedies and triumphs it changed me artistically and made me start thinking like what do I want to be known for. Representing Ohio and the Midwest what do we want to stand for? We want to have reoccurring themes artistically throughout our music. We wanted to be way more lighthearted rather than having a bunch of sad songs or doing the whole conscious or political thing.
Successful people say “we’re giving the people that they want”, it’s people in the world out there like me so I know I ain’t the only muthafucka like this, so I’m giving people like me out there something they can relate to. Something that they want. It’s many layers as an artist, it’s many different things you might want to do, different subjects you might want to talk about. It’s all about where you are in life. We’re having fun, we’re into creating good vibes. We found a good formula.
We had a feeling after we recorded it and heard it back after PJ got finished with the mix. We had that feeling. But we also had that feeling about a lot of the joints on the album. That was a post album decision because we released two music videos before the album was finished testing the temperature out there. We were getting the reaction we knew we needed from when we performed “Ride” at every show and we knew it was the one.
A2HH: You have a certain sound quality to your music. Was this album made with the focus for people to listen to in their cars?
PJ: As I mixed the album I really wanted people to be able to bump it in their cars and really get the feeling of it sonically. I also think about concert a little bit when I’m mixing. The live aspect, to make sure that the clarity is coming through live. Because performances in today’s time are KEY.
P: The show mixes have to be done different. PJ’s ears are just like ours. We know the type of dynamic we want to have. We can’t be rapping over our vocals at a show. None of that goofy shit that some artist try to get away with doing. You also have to prepare for certain live venues that have a shitty sound system. We’ve been going to the studio since we were 16 years old and PJ has been a studio engineer for a long time. We recorded the album at various spots and we linked up and did the final mix downs with PJ. If it don’t ride right it ain’t no good. When you put it in the car that’s the ultimate test to see what you got. That’s why people go test their music at venues, the car, etc. you want to hear it on the big system.
You can’t deny a good song, you can catch the vibe. But where is the standard? You gotta have a standard of sound.
A2HH: What was the concept behind the “Ride” music video?
F.A.M.E: It was a part one of a series. We wanted to put together “Ride” and our other hit song on our album “Roofs”. At some point on “Roofs” we’re going to end up on top of a roof. Ride is us on the way to that roof party and we are having all kinds of trouble getting to the main spot. Car trouble, etc. getting to this party is real important to us and that’s going to be the next video “Roofs”. We are looking for some warm weather vibes for that music video.
A2HH: How would you describe your style as a group?
F.A.M.E: We’re chameleons, where the vibe takes you is really a good description of who we are as artist. We really let the vibe carry the song, especially as of late. We have a recording style where we do freestyle it but we take our time and build on it. It may take a two session process but we’re not forcing it. Literally we let the vibes carry it. If you need us to rap rap on some bars shit we can do that, we have music out there to show you that. If you want us to have a party we can do that. If you need us to talk to the females we can do that. So I just call us ARTIST.
A2HH: How would you describe the Cincinnati Hip-Hop scene?
F.A.M.E: The Cincinnati scene is a whole bunch of diamonds just sitting in the rough. The problem with it is that Cincinnati is more of an industrial city and we aren’t really music generated business wise. It was back in the day but that’s not what it is now. We’re a consumer city so a lot of the times what gets exposed out here is the people that try to go viral and stay in the fad. But the city is full of a lot of original talent like really dope diamond artist that are just making music and trying to reach further. I really believe in this city, Ohio music can compete with the New Yorks, and the Atlantas, and Miamis because Ohio got deep roots and we got that in us. The music scene he is just undiscovered.
P: It’s YungnOfficial/Treehouse Culture. Treehouse is what a lot of people know us from. That’s the street team, that was the crib, that was where we threw parties. We have a lot of artist in our circle.
A2HH: Where did the Treehouse Family name come from?
P: We called our spot the Treehouse. That was the headquarters. That’s where we built the street team, where we built the family. We flip the Treehouse Culture into THC you know what I’m sayin. The Treehouse is a stamp for unity and diversity. A place where diverse individuals could come together and build.
A2HH: Somebody listening to your album “That Pressure” for the first time what experience do you want them to walk away with?
P: I want the replay. I want the “Wow, what was that?”, run it back again. That’s what I want. I want it to genuinely sit with people. We cut a lot of songs to get the project down to what we wanted. It was tailored for the listeners.
